Are there beauty advertisements that turn you off? Why/why not?
I always dislike mascara ads, since they use false lashes, lash inserts, or digitally altered lashes.
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I agree with the mascara adds that have fake lashes. Also, I don’t like that maybelline commercial for the dream smooth mousse when someone whispers “like a baby” in the background. I don’t know why it just turns me off! 🙂
Hahaha same. At least Covergirl states at the bottom of the commercial that they apply lash inserts before applying the mascara.
Anything super gimmicky like Oil of Olay.
mascara adds drive me crazy!!!
Same. I don’t like any commercials or ads that need disclaimers. Mascara ads are completely the most exaggerated, followed by foundation ads.
All beauty ads are entirely too dramatic in my opinion. Fragrance commercials are just so laughable because of how dramatic they are!
I don’t like any adds from companies, that test on animals, like Covergirl. Or mystery ingredients, in their products. I won’t buy them. I wish they would disclose what animals they test on, what they do to them, and what types of chemicals they expose the animals too. This would shut them down. People would stop buying their products, for torture. I won’t buy them.
There’s always goingbto be companies that test on animals, frankly saying alll of that would just be words that no one would read.
Any ad where the makeup looks like it comes from the 90s, or where the makeup is too washed out and blended.
For example, Ulta. I love shopping their, but their ads are a huge turn off. I don’t know who does the model’s makeup, but its always horrible.
Hair product advertisements!! I know they probably get professional treatments done when they claim it is from the hair products… especially the Suave commercials, when stylists claim they use the products or whatever!
I agree with Christine about mascara advertisements. The mascara advertisements that I really dislike are Maybelline’s because they really hype up their mascaras. I personally have not found a Maybelline mascara that I like. Therefore, I keep sticking to my favorite L’oreal mascaras and to my favorite Cover Girl’s Lash Blast.
I agree… I hate ads that are so obviously fake. I mean, we know we’re not going to look like that, so why make it so obviously edited and photoshopped?
Although Make Up For Ever has this new magazine ad for their HD foundation, and it’s completely unretouched…. I just thought that was cool.
I love the new MUFE HD ad as well!
Same! its really great!
I agree. The mascara ads are so fake. Unfortunately, a lot of the makeup commercials are silly and so are the fragrance commercials. The models/celebrities are always doing something cheesy or taking themselves way too seriously.
In india there are so many ‘fairness cream’ adds that promise to make3 your fairer. It completely is a turn off…you shud be comfortble in the skin u are in..not apply creams to appear whiter…
I don’t like it when ads are overly photoshopped. But that seems to be all of them nowadays. It would be shocking to see an unaltered face in a makeup ad for normal everyday makeup. If you look at old makeup ads- from the 80s even and earlier, you can actually see little wrinkles around the eyes, texture to the skin, etc… on normal, young models. Now everyone is airbrushed/ Photoshopped until skin looks like plastic. 😛
There should be a law against using false lashes in mascara commercials! In fact, there should be a law against digitally altering pictures in any types of ads. It can be very misleading, especially for make-up.
yep, mascara adds. they really irk me the way they use fake lashes. i would understand if they used them subtly, but they seem to use 10 pairs stacked ontop of each other.
The mascara ads are just so misleading.
Totally agree
Oh and some skincare products ads with FAKE digitally altered skin
To tell the truth I’ve stopped paying attention to make up adverts a long time ago, they are too digitally enchanced, too perfect. It’s annoying. For me the best kind of ad is when a product gets good reviews on the internet from fellow make up lovers 🙂
I dislike l/s ads since most of the time the color is photoshopped. So of course the shade doesn’t look the way It did in the ad IRL.
ditto on the mascara. trust me, i’m all for the power of advertizing and i’m usually the only one to jump on the side of the company/agency when people scream about “the truth,” but mascara ads just baffle me.
Basically beauty advertisments in general. Everything is SO photoshopped, the girls have no pores, unreal lashes and it just is nothing I go by when buying product. I only rely on what beauty bloggers say, tbh.
I don’t like 99.99% of ads; they are all too airbrushed and make otherwise gorgeous models look like aliens. I loved the promo shots that you posted recently with the Estee Lauder summer collection. At least two of them were either totally unphotoshopped of lightly so. The model looked so amazing!
Also not a fan of mascara adverts. Why bother faking it when we all know it’s not real? I just ignore these now. I’d rather they left the lashes unaltered and let the product speak for itself.
I totally agree with the mascara ads being off-putting. I also dislike beauty ads with celebrities in them, where the celebrities are so photoshopped they barely look like themselves. Clive Owen was in a horrendous Lancome Hypnose perfume ad.
I agree too. Mascara ads.
I completely agree, I hate mascara ads and pretty much ignore them. They are obviously fake.
No I can’t think of any makeup ads that annoy me or put me off at the moment! LOL What annoys me more is if the actual makeup is really bad quality!
For me too, it’s the mascara adds because they’re so fake (the ones on TV carry the “admission” that they’re filmed with lash inserts or computer enhancements but this message is in such miniscule (sp) print and on screen for maybe 2 or 3 seconds that you would be hard-pressed to read it. Why not just show us the real results, for crying out loud?
I totally agree! I don’t get it, I mean the fake lashes kind of counteracts the whole purpose of the ad… I hate lash ads 🙂
Totally agree on the mascara thing. When a girl I knew was younger she used to always wonder why she couldn’t get the results the commercials did.
Agreed. I noticed that now in print ads they put a disclaimer on the bottom that says something like “model is wearing false eyelashes.” I know enough now not to get my hopes up when it comes to mascara.
All shampoo/conditioner commercials (if that counts), because everyone knows that will not be the outcome if you use that product! Haha
Ummm… Aren’t most commercials photoshopped/digitally altered? Especially print ads?
I cant stand most perfume ads….they make me shake my head 🙂
It’s a bit strange that falsies n such are allowed to be used without a note in the commercial. I assume most of those who are interested in make-up can spot them, so in the end the commercial somehow reveals itself as being fake. Which is something that not only prevents me from buying the product but also makes me doubt other claims the company makes of other products (n def their skincare products). It seems to go against the purpose of marketing, no? Anyway, no worries thankfully we got blogs like this one to turn to instead.
Mascara ads always bother me too, especially celebrity endorsed ones like Eva Longoria who always wears monstrous lashes. Skincare commercials like the Neutrogena ones always annoy me too because when the women “wash” their face, they are visibly wear a full face of makeup. Oh, and Proactive commercials in general, especially the Justin Bieber one. The kid has never had acne in his life!
Shampoo ads! No hair looks as shiny, bouncy as it does in the ads – well unless you are J-Lo and have people constantly spraying shiner on your hair . . . 😉
There isn’t one in particular that turns me off, but in general, I don’t like how every single ad for beauty or fashion products feature only thin women. I am bigger around and I don’t like the implication that in order to be glamourous and get the most out of your beauty products, you must be of a certain stature and body type. Beauty is for all women regardless of size….actually, I could say the same about age and race, although there is not so much of an exclusionary vibe (to my mind — this is only my opinion) to those features as to a woman’s size. The only time you really see ads with big beautiful women are for plus-sized clothing stores, and I just think that’s not right.
I agree–would featuring curvier women really hurt anyone? I wish Maybelline had taken advantage the chance to show not only different races and skintones, but different sizes of beauty as well, in their FitMe campaign. You know, with the underlying (or even stated) message that women of different sizes can still have a foundation in common, because beauty knows no size.
I would also love to see ads featuring MEN, because men /do/ wear makeup (I’m not remotely ashamed to admit I’ve garnered makeup inspiration from the members of my favorite band, My Chemical Romance). I’m not talking camp, either, and not necessarily drag, but maybe just an ad for an edgier collection/brand featuring a man rocking eyeliner or eye makeup, just as a way to acknowledge those men who buy and use those products.
Yes! I completely agree with you. In fact, I almost added in that I’d like to see some ads featuring men in makeup just as you describe. From Robert Smith to Nick Rhodes to Adam Lambert, men can pull off as many different kinds of looks as we girls can! Let’s see them recognized in the media too.
Exactly! Let’s get some gender equality in our makeup campaigns! It would certainly get my attention.
Mascara ads, absolutely. I find them insulting. How stupid do they think I am? I just want to smack the people responsible.
All beauty ads turn me off, to be honest. They’re so cheesy with the women twirling around and acting silly and with the ‘scientific’ close-ups of the face and it’s ‘molecules’ depicted as colourful, animated circles….can’t stand them. I find the drugstore product ads are especially cheesy. You (or at least, I) don’t see too many ads for high end makeup on TV but I saw one for Chanel the other day and it was definitely more subtle than your usual beauty ad.
I also agree with the mascara adds, but honestly I think anyone that actually believes them is silly! They all look so extremely fake, even if I was new at makeup I’d never believe they were real.
I don’t trust anything but MAC advertising since all the other brand tend to heavily airbrush there models. >__< I'm not talking a blemish repaire here either.
I hate face wash commercials. They never show the spokeswoman washing her forehead with the stuff. It’s gross!!
Agree with this too….and I don’t know ANYONE who looks THAT overjoyed in the morning when they wash their face….do you? XD
Heck, I am not even awake when I wash my face, let alone “overjoyed”! LOL!
I don’t like the L’Oreal Youth Code ad. It’s just weird when they pinch their skin then let it go and you see the ripples in slowmo. That’s totally unappealing to me haha.
Yes! I hate the false lash mascara commercials.
I also find the Maybelline Fit Me commercials a little strange. “Don’t judge me! Don’t change me!”
I definitely agree with you on the mascara ads.
I agree about the mascara ads! Not only do they use fakes lashes, but the insane claims: 2317% longer lashes! 5 million percent thicker! Honestly, please, just STOP.
The one that really gets me is that L Oreal commercial of that one sweep shadow where all you have to do is sweep that large sponge over your eyelid and you have a crease, base and highlight shadow in one easy step. 1) Im sure the result is a muddy mixture of the colors and way off the lashline. Kind of like that roller makeup in the gimmicky sense. Now that I think of it, that was L Oreal too right?
This. This thing is being promoted like mad in my local drugstore and Im tempted to buy one just to see how bad it will be and then do a review… come to think of it, Im headed over to youtube to see if there is one.
I was thinking the exact same thing when I saw the “one sweep eyeshadow”! Those stupid sponge applicators don’t swipe (or work) very well, so I don’t see the product working at all!
In addition to the mascara ads, I would have to say 20 year old models in anti-aging cream ads.
so true!
Or 20 year old models in hair color ads, claiming that the stuff covered their grays. Girl, PUHLEEZE! Who do they think they are kidding?
(I will say, though, that in high school I had a field hockey coach that had grays in her hair- and a lot of them – in her early 20s. So it might be possible. She was awesome, BTW.)
Advertisements that use vague statements like “inspired by gene science”.
Also the mascara ads annoy me also. We all know those lashes are fake!
Totally agree about the mascara adverts. Especially the Maybelline The Falsies mascara. They clearly are wearing false lashes. I also dislike the garnier hair dye things with Sarah Jessica Parker. Her hair colour doesn’t always look good in them. And that annoying girl that pops up out of nowhere in that other hair dye brand (nice and easy i think). Annoyingggg.
I agree about mascara ads. Same for a for hair coloring commercials. I don’t believe those models and actressrs they use really dyed their hair with the produ
Product they’re advertising (sorry about the incomplete comment LOL)
Advertisements from companies that test on animals, like L’oreal and so on. Disgusting!
I know what you mean with mascara ads. I think maybe just find girls that don’t need retouching instead of actors and famous people. Use good lighting if anything and let us see what the products can do. We are realistic and now nothing is magic. That’s why blog reviews and youtube reviews are so popular. Just show us what it can do. Yes using good looking people helps, but flat out photoshop is not helping sell the product. It only gets the name out there and since people now have review sites we don’t have to risk it if most reviewers dislike the product anyhow.
That’s why I love clinical ads for skincare products. They use their tricks of course but the trained eye can get an idea if the product at least does something and results have to be proven.
Mascara ads (for the same reasons). I have no idea how they get away with it and aren’t dinged all over the place for false advertising.
I can’t stand the new add for maybe a L’Oreal product that says something like “Imagine if you could grow young” while a text disclaimer actually states that this is a fantasy and it is not possible to grow young. Wow.
Mascara and Anti-Aging commericals! Those are the worst!
You know what gets me? These “Anti-Aging” gimmicks like roller balls and stuff like that. Then I get a magazine in the mail and read on how testers said their skin has no change at all. That galls me. And some of this stuff is SUPER expensive. Not only that, the animal testing. Please.. animals are not people. If companies want to test, use all these people in prisons. They’re not going anywhere..
I don’t know if you are being serious, but just in case you are- when people are convicted of crimes, they still get basic human rights (in civilized countries at least). We don’t take them apart for their organs or test potentially dangerous products on them. I agree that they shouldn’t be using animals for testing- but there are plenty of other safe, effective product testing methods that plenty of companies use that don’t involve stripping people of their human rights OR harming animals. D:
Very reasonable and mature reply. I agree with you completely! We don’t need to test these on animals or humans. Considering the nasty history of prisoners unknowingly being used as test subjects with sometimes very horrible results… let’s move to only humane ways of testing products.
I can’t think of any specific ones at the moment, but I dislike whenever beauty ads show how the product can help make a woman more attractive to a man. You know, the ones that say if you use a certain shaving cream/lotion/shampoo, a man will find rubbing your legs/stroking your hair totally irresistible. Really, now? It’s just not sexy to say, “Use our shaving cream and you won’t be hairy when you go out with your friends!”
I think I’m safe in saying that is totally not the primary reason many (if not most) women wear makeup/shave their legs/wash their hair.
Also, Taylor Swift Covergirl ads, although that’s more my problem with her virginal image* than anything else. I cringe every time I see one.
*Note that was not in any way an attack on her /person/.
I think those also encourage people to act like the every single hair on the body is a beast that you must kill.Taking care of your beauty is one thing,but isn’t body hair a natural thing?no one can be that hair-free and perfect all the time,that includes the models on the runway.on many big sized pics,you can actually see that those gorgeous girls didn’t care their body hair that much.but in real life,there are so many people on the forums etc think that having hair on your arms is the end of the world.
Okay,“Use our shaving cream and you won’t be hairy when you go out with your friends!” made me laugh out loud. XD But you’re totally on target. That’s exactly what those commercials are like. (I’m now tempted to tell the next friend who invites me to go out that I can’t come because I’m too hairy, lol).
I’m the exact same way with mascara ads! And pretty much every single CoverGirl ad.
Garnier hair product ads and all the drugstore brand mascara adds!
Pantene shampoo and conditioners, so bolony
I really dislike ads that use pretty arbitrary ‘statistics’. How do you quantify skin brightness? What is 600% brighter skin? It’s ridiculous.
Photoshop looks nice with creative ads,like the ones mac come up with,or Illamasqua etc.But when I see the ads with perfect looking women as if it is normal/possible to be so,I simply hate it.I always think that make up should be fun and creative.We use all those products to look better of course,but the reason I am buying my 30. blush is not because I believe that I can look like the model/actress who has transformed to a new creature with extreme usage of photoshop.
I dont know if it counts,but I really go nuts everytime I see an epilator commercial on TV,with women using the thing on their way too smooth legs.I mean I don’t expect them to be fully hairy but it looks so lame at the same time:)
I hate these face cream or shampoo ads where they try to show SCIENCE!!1! as a bunch of colourful pills bouncing around in milk or as a laser light mesh over your face or something.
the indian ones that promote skin lightening so that you can look more attractive.
I agree mascara ads are particularly annoying; it’s so ridiculous they want to make people believe their product is some sort of miracle but include a disclaimer in mini sized type! I also dislike those excessively photoshopped images that most brands use. I do like the printed ads of Clinique, because they do not use pictures of models, just of their products.
I agree that nowadays the best and most honest beauty advice you can get comes from bloggers, who are real people and provide reviews based on their actual experience!
i really have no respect for and pay no attention to cosmetics ads in general as they are so horribly fake and misleading, ESPECIALLY mascara ads. can’t stand them.
Nice to know I’m not the only ones who is irritated by the blatant false advertising in mascara adds… I particularly dislike the most recent Revlon ones, Grow Luscious (which doesn’t actually contain ANYTHING that will promote lash growth)and that Customeyes one – could those false lashes BE any BIGGER?
Actually, Revlon ads in general, especially the ones with Jessica Biel in them – don’t get me wrong, she is a naturally gorgeous woman but they make her look so bad! I thought that one for the Spa Illuminatior with the brush thing on it was especially bad, she looked terrible!
Any skincare that implies it is based on genetic research that can “repair” or “enhance” your genes – that is just a big fat lie.
Nothing you put on your skin can affect your genes (and really, would you want it to?!)
The Elizabeth Arden Prevage ads with Catherine Zeta Jones – so photoshopped it makes her unrecognizable.
I don’t mind a bit of air brushing or tone correcting or even a bit of artistic license on a certain image but when they totally change a woman’s body shape (slimmer waist and hips, bigger boobs, etc) they are doing all of us a disservice.
There was an ad a few years ago, I think it was for Armani Jeans, and the model was so photoshopped, her head was wider than her hips – it was completely ridiculous. We have eyes you know, people!
I despise the pointless sensuality in almost every cosmetic ad. Really. do I have to see some celebrity or model sensuously stroking their shoulders or neck just to promote some anti-wrinkle cream?!
Also, I despise mean looking models. Sure they’re pretty but I feel like they’re out to get some poor soul.
Because of both pet peeves, my favourite makeup ad is Ellen DeGeneres’ Cover Girl commercials. The ads are so cheerful and fun that I momentarily forget my dislike both for Ellen and the product!
Ooh, I forgot about the “mean” models – that Marc Jacobs Lola perfume advert, with the grouchy looking thirteen year old who has a wonky looking thumb?
Know the one I mean?
Drives. Me. Bonkers.
So very, very unattractive.
I know! the Lola magazine ad– it reminds me of a glowering child:”But I wanted the RED kool-aide!!!!” Yeah, that image Really makes me want to run out and spend my money.
Gosh I hate mascara ads! I also hate hair care ads (especially hair color) because I always have to wonder if they used the products they’re advertising on their hair or not…
I agree. Mascara ads are so ridiculous. They’re like, “No false lashes needed!” And I’m like, “YOU LIE!” Lol! Perfume ads make me laugh. Shampoo ads are pretty dumb, too. The hair looks like fake barbie hair.
Penelope Cruz did a mascara ad a while back. Not only does she naturally have long, dark lashes but the Company was actually fined in the U.K. because they used false lashes on her as well. Made me think that it must be the worst mascara ever if it needed that much help.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the Super by Perricone ad. It’s a girl getting her face covered in a thick white substance. Need I say more?
As for mascara ads, any person who feels mislead by the use of false lashes probably doesn’t have the mental capacity to actually apply mascara anyway. Clearly you are not going to get perfect full lashes. However, by seeing the shape of the brush or maybe the ingredients on the ad, you’ll make an educated decision as a consumer to purchase the mascara because of its claims. Like volume, length, definition? Beauty ads are built on fantasy…love it or hate it. If the ads weren’t retouched, and some chick’s wrinkles/blotchiness/acne was exposed, I sure as HELL wouldn’t buy the product!
OH yeah — I HATE that Perricone ad! The model looks ecstatic, too. -.- It’s pretty disgusting. And it’s prominently displayed in my local Sephora, too. Ugh.
I’m so glad you mentioned that Perricone one. I immediately thought of that ad when I saw this question!
Mascara ads!! You never really know how good the mascara is since it is never what they actually show in there ads. To me its false advertising!
I agree with over-shopping, false lashes, 20 year olds selling wrinkle cream, etc… but fakey science in ads has to be my biggest pet peeve. “With our exclusive duo-blended Beautyzome Youthplex, skin instantly appears 80% more radiant and 200% more charmvescent!” Cue fakey science animation of the skin, a wave of CG over the model’s face, attractive actors in lab coats, and tiny illegible print covering the bottom quarter of the screen. Beauty ads in general are almost completely divorced from reality, but these ones just add a little extra step to my rageometer. : P
LOL, charmvescent – that TOTALLY needs to be a real word, it’s so brilliant.
I like rageometer too, I didn’t know I had one of those but it turns out I do!
Not to mention, most of those “test measurements” are done are in-vitro (human skin cells in a test tube, actual face not included) and are frequently a very small sample size, not representative of women in general (or, ummm, you know, at all…)
Most ads for just about anything turn me off. I don’t trust any of them! I tend to go on reputation, ingredients, company philosophy and mission and OF COURSE, I turn to reviews such as yours Christine! 🙂
I hate mascara ads too! The ones that really stand out in my mind are the Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz ads – they were just awful! And I really dislike ads where they have fake scientific claims. Nothing you put on your skin is going to change your genes – period.
I also can’t stand hair color commercials. They OBVIOUSLY don’t use the products they’re advertising.
Acne product ads, especially when the person advertising it doesn’t even have acne, and probably never did.
I scanned through & I don’t think anyone said this but perfume ads are the worst! Oh god, I can’t tell you how many times I have worn my favorite perfume & wanted to run through a field of daisies or roll around in the sand on the beach because I smelled that good! It really is the reason why I buy the perfume! Same goes for cologne ads. Those “Bod” commercials make me want to vomit. I’m pretty sure the guys in those ads do not use a $5 plastic bottle of cologne. & I am sure the guys that do…do not look like the ones in the ads! 🙂 Lol.
I find it really interesting this article popped up on Feministing two days after this discussion, and since I saw the ad referenced in the article mentioned here, I thought this particularly relevant.
http://feministing.com/2011/03/15/unretouched-make-up-ad-a-reminder-the-problems-much-bigger/
Right now there is one nail polish add with Jessica Alba.. I.Can’t.Stand.It. I’m a huge fan of hers but for some reason the add just looks so fake and it just annoys me.
I don’t like the fakeness. I mean, they show you a photo of a model wearing makeup, but it’s photoshopped so much that you aren’t looking at the true likeness of anything: the model, the quality of the product, the color, the texture, etc. Photoshopping anything renders it useless. Might as well just draw a picture of a stick figure for how useful it is. On top of this, the manipulative and misleading nature of advertisers mean I just automatically dismiss ads entirely.
Totally agree on that one, ha! Mascara ads, because they’ve become so exaggerated, never are what makes me want to buy mascara. There should be a law that says you must show the results of the actual mascara, nothing more 😛
I’m attracted to ads with only a few claims. Makes me think they might actually live up to them, y’know? I hate ads that claim their product has all of the benefits.